SAN DIEGO — Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, Chairman Greg Cox, Dr. Wilma Wooten, and Dr. Eric McDonald gave an update on COVID-19 in San Diego County on Friday afternoon. You can watch the entire briefing here.
Fletcher said that the stay-at-home order is making a difference and saving lives.
“Every day, whether it rains or shines, we have to continue to adhere to the orders,” said Fletcher. “The risk to the public remains very high.”
Fletcher also thanked faith leaders in the community for respecting the public health order and offering religious services online.
Unacast, a third party tool, gave San Diego County a “C+” grade for social distancing. California overall received a “B” grade. Santa Barbara County is doing the best at social distancing in the state.
McDonald stressed the importance of social distancing.
“This a novel virus which means it’s never been in humans before, so this is new to our herd,” said McDonald.
1,693 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in San Diego County. 23,353 people have been tested overall. 44 people have died, which is a four-person increase from Thursday’s numbers.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is up in every category (N-95 masks, gloves, gowns, etc.) according to Fletcher. 554 ventilators are available in San Diego County as of Friday afternoon, with all 23 hospitals reporting.
San Diego County officials have expanded a public health order requiring facial coverings for additional essential employees.
County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher announced Thursday that bank employees, public transportation workers and childcare providers who serve food must now wear non-medical grade facial coverings at work. Public transportation includes public employees such as those working for the Metropolitan Transit System but also includes drivers for Uber and Lyft and cab drivers.
Fletcher said the county estimated the recoveries by taking the last known positive tests for the illness, waiting two weeks and subtracting any loss of life. It is a rough estimate, but does give some semblance of the county's picture, he said, noting it was similar to how Johns Hopkins University tracked cases and recovery worldwide.
Fletcher said that while the 98 cases reported Thursday is the most in the past several days, it "wasn't a cause for alarm, just as fewer cases a few days ago was not a cause for relief."
Fletcher reiterated what has been a common point from him over the past month in stating that day-over-day results were not the best way to get a full picture of the health crisis.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said Thursday that a dozen of the downtown library's 3D printers are being used to print face shields for local hospitals.
The printers can collectively produce about 50 face shields per day at a time when they are at a premium.
While the library remains closed to the public per local public health orders, its infrastructure is being utilized as part of Faulconer's order issued last week making all city properties available for COVID-19-related uses.
The city of San Diego on Thursday night rescinded furloughs it ordered last week for 800 city workers and has agreed to continue paying those employees their full salaries while finding them other city tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Diego Union Tribune reported.
Most of the employees had been working at city libraries and recreation centers before those facilities closed, while others worked for the city's Transportation and Stormwater Department, according to the newspaper.
The reversal comes after the labor union representing most of the workers, the Municipal Employees Association, filed a grievance last Saturday.
A sailor assigned to the San Diego-based aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt was in intensive care as of Thursday afternoon after being found in his room on the ship docked in Guam, the Navy said Thursday.
The sailor tested positive for COVID-19 on March 30 and was found unresponsive on Thursday, Navy officials said.
Former USS Theodore Roosevelt Capt. Brett Crozier was relieved of his duties on April 2, three days after a letter he wrote asking for a stronger response to the coronavirus outbreak on the ship was published in the San Francisco Chronicle and other media outlets.
Crozier has since tested positive for COVID-19, as have 416 sailors on the vessel, as of Thursday.
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who fired Crozier, submitted his resignation Monday after a recording surfaced of him addressing the crew over the ship's PA system, in which he called Crozier's actions "a betrayal" and said he believed the captain either purposefully sent the letter to unauthorized parties or must have been "too naive or too stupid" to realize the import of his actions.